New CityFlats could create other ‘urban options’

Rendering courtesy GMB Architecture+EngineeringCityFlats, a new 28-room boutique hotel, is expected to open in May inside the former Fox Jewelers building, 83-85 Monroe Center, in downtown Grand Rapids.

The Holland-based design and manufacturing company is taking what it learned from the first hotel and putting it into practice at the new CityFlats Hotel on Monroe Center in downtown Grand Rapids. Charter House last month broke ground at the former Fox Jewelers location, and completion is scheduled for May 2011.

“To say that we’re anxious to get going is an understatement,” Reid said.

The project will cost $3 million to $4 million, and some financing is coming from a $75,000 TIF grant, state brownfield tax credits worth 20 percent of the total construction investment, and a $75,000 Building Reuse Incentives Program grant based on $180,000 in ADA improvements.

The five-story, 16,000-square-foot building will have 28 rooms, significantly fewer than Holland’s 56.

“I know our design team is having a great deal of fun in making sure we create the same type of feel but on a little smaller scale,” Reid said.

The designers have acquired knowledge from building the first hotel, plus plenty of feedback from guests at that location, so they have a good idea of what works and what doesn’t, Reid said. But the new location will have many unique aspects, too.

“Because all of our rooms are different, we don’t really fall into the trap where we come up with one design and it fits all,” Reid said. “So if you don’t like one room, we’ve got several other rooms that you perhaps would like.

“It lessens the burden so much on the perfect design — because there’s never a perfect design.”

Like the original, the Grand Rapids hotel will seek LEED Gold certification and feature cork flooring. Some elements will differ because it’s an existing building instead of new construction, and others had to be cut because of space constraints.

“But we think we can make it up in other areas,” Reid said of the space constraints. “There are other things we can build upon.”

For instance, while the Grand Rapids location will have CityBru Coffee and a CitySen Lounge, the CityVu Bistro had to be scaled down. Plans include an 80-seat restaurant, which likely will focus on the after-work crowd, in addition to serving hotel guests, said Sarah Lilly, marketing coordinator for CityFlats and CityVu.

“I think there’s a lot of opportunity in that after-work arena of people looking for a place to gather and have drinks, cocktails and small plates,” Lilly said.

Reid and Lilly are excited to have a location in Grand Rapids’ vibrant downtown.

“We think it’s a terrific market for us — the size and scale and the amount of business and travel leisure that it commands,” Reid said. “But more importantly, it’s another incubator for us.”

Charter House chose Grand Rapids in part because it’s not too far from the company’s headquarters in Holland, which makes it easy to visit the site and transport furnishings, Reid said. Additionally, the downtown renovation provides another hotel model for Charter House.

Reid wants to be able to showcase Charter House’s renovation capabilities because the company does hundreds of restaurant remodels a year, Reid said. But it also demonstrates how the CityFlats model can be adapted to an existing building, which could open up many urban options for Charter House.

“It’s hard to find an empty lot (in a downtown) where you want to start and build anew,” Reid said. “We can help reduce our initial costs and do something good for the environment by reusing existing buildings.”

Once this project is complete, Reid wants to take what he and his team learned with the Grand Rapids hotel and apply it to future projects.

“We’ve been receiving calls on a weekly basis for towns in and around Michigan that really like our concept and would like to see another CityFlats in their town,” Reid said. “So it’s an exciting time for us.”